Various systems exist for producing remotely sensed data for agriculture and other applications where it is desired to detect changes over time in an image area. One such sensing system is the Systeme Pour l'observation de la Terre (SPOT) satellite developed by the French Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The SPOT satellite produces red, green, blue, and near-infrared color bands to a resolution of approximately 10 meters. For many uses, such as agriculture and other change detection applications, data produced by the SPOT satellite meets various radiometric and temporal frequency requirements. However, this data is expensive. For example, a 60 km×60 km image costs approximately 2,000.
Another remote sensing system is a Land Remote Sensing Satellite Program (LANDSAT-7) satellite operated by NASA. The LANDSAT-7 satellite produces a single frame/array of a 180 km×180 km image with red, green, blue, and near-infrared color bands at a resolution of about 25 meters and a panchromatic band that includes green, red, and near-infrared wavelengths at a resolution of 12.5 meters. A LANDSAT-7 image costs roughly 500 with a resulting cost and coverage benefit of 36. The data from the LANDSAT series satellite is attractive because of its affordable cost. However, the images produced by the LANDSAT series satellites do not have the multispectral spatial resolution necessary to produce high value agricultural or change detection information products.
In order to overcome the low multispectral spatial resolution of the LANDSAT series satellite images, sharpening techniques have been introduced for increasing the resolution of images produced from the raw data generated by the LANDSAT series satellite. However, the images produced by these sharpening techniques lose some of the radiometric accuracy of the raw data, thereby reducing the value of the information produced.
Therefore, there exists an unmet need in the art for increasing resolution of low cost data from remote sensing systems while preserving radiometric accuracy for effective use in agriculture and other change detection information products.